Cross Road
by akinos
Summary: -Semi AU- A new decision was made in the hospital hall that day, and so a new path was opened for Naruto. A new world, a new beginning. Yet he let it all behind to came back to this world, to a place that once hated him, back to Konoha. But this time, he is no longer alone.
1. How it all begin

**Title: Cross Road**

**Author: Tsukino Aki (Akinos)**

**Rate: T**

**Summary: -Semi AU- **A new decision was made in the hospital hall that day, and so a new path was opened for Naruto. A new world, a new beginning. Yet he let it all behind to came back to this world, to a place that once hated him, back to Konoha. But this time, he is no longer alone.

**Pairing: **No pairing yet.

**Warnings: **OOC.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and Pokemon.**

**AN: I have 3 chapters of this story writen, but after that I have no idea how to continue it, so any idea you can give will be very helpful.**

**The pic cover is not mine, found it in google.**

**Thank to my beta Fion's hard work, this story had finaly been posted. Hope you enjoy it.**

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**Chapter 1: How it all begin.**

History is a series of paths taken and not taken, a series of thing that might or might not have happened. For every decision made, a dozen more could have been made. In addition, according to some theories, for every divergence, for every possible occurrence right down to the subatomic level, there exists an alternate universe.

Therefore, as we all know it in the Canon Universe, on the day Naruto asks Kakashi to train him for the Chuunin Exam final, he is lets with Ebisu while Kakashi goes to train Sasuke. Naruto was angry, but he accepted Kakashi's decision and thanks to it later become Jiraiya's student.

But what if Naruto hasn't accepted it that day?

Because, really, why should he? Naruto had met Ebisu before, and just by that short among of time, he could already tell that Ebisu is one of the many people that look down on him because of the Kyuubi. The man had only agreed to teach him because of Kakashi's request, if not for it, would he even pay attention to Naruto?

"Come on then, Naruto, we need to get to training soon; I still have a lot of important things to do after this." Ebisu was saying as he started walking ahead, but to Naruto his voice sounded annoyed and full of complaints.

"Why?" muttered Naruto in a small voice, but Ebisu heard it nonetheless.

"Why what? Speak up Naruto-kun," asked Ebisu, as he turned back to face Naruto. Kakashi had stopped and was now listening to what his student has to say.

"Why did you agree to teach me? Last time we met, you obviously didn't like me, so why the sudden interest now?" spoke Naruto louder this time, not the loudmouth voice everyone was accustomed to though. This time, it was just enough to hear and had a calm tone added to it, as if it was forced to be so.

"Well… It's because I owe Kakashi a favour, and it's not like I hate you that much…," answered Ebisu in a hesitant voice; even he has noticed that there was something wrong going on.

"So it is 'not hate me that much', not 'don't hate me at all'? At least you are honest," said a bitter Naruto, his eyes downcast.

"What…? I didn't mean that!" Ebisu quickly protested, but stopped as Naruto looked up. Those eyes seemed so dead that it scared him.

"Its fine, I understood. Thank you for trying anyway."

Ebisu was taken back by the defended tone in Naruto's voice. Why was the boy suddenly like this? Was being trained by him such a disappointment? For a second, Ebisu felt offended, and then he thought better of it, and realized there was more to it than the surface. It was not only defending, sincerity mixed in as well, and something he could not place. It made Ebisu question himself if he really knew Naruto at all. The life the boy had surely could not lead to a simple loudmouthed idiot; a cheerful boy without some dark parts hidden somewhere? Now that dark part was starting to emerge, Ebisu felt like he needed to watch it carefully, not only to understand, but also to witness an important step of Naruto's life. Being honest with oneself was also a step in growing up after all. As a teacher, he will do what he had to, even if Naruto had not yet been his student before. Therefore, Ebisu calmly looked Naruto in the eyes, nodded his head, accepting and stepped back to watch. He knew Naruto's aim in the beginning had never been him.

Just as Ebisu had thought, after his nod, Naruto quickly turned around to his real teacher, the man that had cracked his mask without knowing so, without Naruto wanting to. In addition, just like Ebisu, Kakashi was taken back for an instant by the look in his eyes, though not by the dead-like look, but by the fire that suddenly seemed to burn up in those ocean-blue eyes.

"I want the truth, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said demanding, his voice was hard. "Why couldn't you teach me? And please don't tell me that nonsense crap about business you had to take care of."

"Now, Naruto looks here…" Kakashi tried to calm the boy down as he could also see where this was going, and he does not like it one bit. However, Naruto will have none of it.

"No, you look here, Kakashi-sensei." He quickly cut in before Kakashi can talk his way out of this. He had enough. "You always have some business here and some business there; you are busy, I got that. However, this time is different; Neji is excessively strong for me and I would lose if I do not train serious… for that, I need your help. Why can you not just take some time out to train me? And what about Sasuke, shouldn't you be helping him train against Gaara too?"

Silence fell after Naruto's outburst. For Naruto, it was because he was embarrassed, having admitted being weaker than Neji. He even used Sasuke as a reason to force Kakashi to answer him, which made him feel so low. For Kakashi, he did not know what to say after Naruto's words: lie or tell him the truth. In the end, Kakashi decided in the truth.

"Exactly… I will be training Sasuke," began Kakashi, hoping that honesty would help him in this, but he did not realize that maybe a lie would have been a better opinion here. As a result, something in Naruto broke at those words. "You know his opponent is Gaara, that boy is too dangerous and Sasuke will get killed without my help, that why…"

"That's why you have to train him?" Naruto finished for Kakashi, said man hesitated before nodding, and Naruto kept on speaking. "I know Gaara is strong; I've seen his fight, you know? Sasuke would needs all the help he can get… But so would I. You have seen what Neji done to Hinata too; don't you think I need help against that? Why train only Sasuke? It isn't hard to train the both of us, is it? So, just… why?"

This, Kakashi had no words to say. Because what could he say, really? The truth was that Kakashi had always seen Gaara as the dangerous one, the killer that would not hesitate to end Sasuke if he was not strong enough. On the other hand, Neji was a Konoha ninja, maybe even a Hyuga, but he was still nowhere as strong as Gaara and he would not kill a fellow ninja of Konoha. He almost did with Hinata, but that is because she was of the main house. He may injure Naruto, but surely, there were no chances of Naruto being killed. Moreover, there was doubt in Kakashi's mind of whether or not Naruto could even win against Neji. His fight with Kiba had only end with Naruto being able to win out of luck after all. Therefore, Sasuke needs his attention more than Naruto, the boy can just be fine with Ebisu, right?

Sometime during Kakashi's thinking phase, Naruto seem to realize the reason why Kakashi did not want to train him.

"You think I couldn't win against Neji, is that it?" asked Naruto slowly, as if he was waiting for Kakashi to deny it. However, when nothing came out, the world seemed to break down around Naruto and he was just barely being able to hang in there. He quickly said, "I should have knew, how silly of me. Oh well, if that is all, I have to go now. Bye, Kakashi-sensei, Ebisu-san."

Without waiting for a reply, he ran out of the hospital, ignoring Kakashi's calls for him to stop. He continued to run as fast as he could until he reached the training area of his team. The place was empty except for a few birds, but Naruto paid no attention to it as he finally let loose a loud cry; the mask finally broken completely.

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"It's not fair… Not fair at all…," whispered Naruto a while after his emotional breakdown, having not moved all this time. Truth be told, he was too tired both mentally and physically to move away, so Naruto decided to just sleep right here, right now. However, what Naruto did not know was that, as he closed his eyes, a shadow came into shape right next to him and seemed to be watching him very carefully. The figure vanished just as quick though, so by the time Naruto woke up, which happened to be midnight that day, he had no clue of what is about to happen. All he knew was that as he looked up at the night sky, there were two feathers that were falling down right above his head. Naruto caught them easily and as he looked them over, he did not realize that he was about to walk in on a hole that had appeared in the ground a few seconds before. Thus, he did not have a chance to yell or do anything as he was swallowed by the hole and disappeared from the Ninja World, for a very long time.

For him anyway.

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So, as you can all see, a single action can cause a chain of events to change drastically. In our case, that action caused Naruto to travel through an entirely new world. What world did Naruto end up in? Well... Two different Divine feathers fell into our hero's hands, enabling him to travel through time and space. Where do beings with that kind of power reside, if not in the Pokemon World? However, the tale of Naruto's adventure throughout the Pokémon world is a story for another time.

Maybe in other universes, Naruto would stay in the Pokemon World for good... No one can know for sure, there are a lot of 'What Ifs' involved, and a lot of choices to be made. For now, we'll focus on the universe where he came back, and the world that was about to welcome its newest member – one that Naruto brought with him

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**The last part was edited for me by Sevvyn, thank you! Hopefully it will not be much confuse for everyone.**

**So, review and review please.**


	2. Back again

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and Pokemon.**

**AN: it been nearly 3 weeks since last chapter, I wasn't planning on it taking that long, but my Beta was busy and couldn't edit this chapter sooner. So, sorry for the late update, here is chapter 2. Hope you like it.**

**Thank you all for the reviews, favorites and alerts. Chapter 1 has 5 reviews, 410 views, 25 favorites and 20 alerts. Lage numbers, I never thought it would get that much. Thank you very much. I hope this chapter will get just as much.**

**Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 2: Konoha again.**

A month has passed since the start of the Chunin Exam in Konoha, and today is the finally test: a battle tournament. For this day alone, the gennins have been given the whole month before to train and improve their strength, and to also give time for people from all over the world to come and watch them. This is a day that will not be easily forgotten in anyone's minds.

"So I did come back in time for the final exam? Arceus, this is so unbelievable, but thanks none the less, Celebi," murmured a blond boy quietly while he sat in the tree branch next to the stadium's door. The boy dressed in a black undershirt, a short body jacket with long sleeve that was zipped up all the way, its colors was an orange that get lighter as it went up like a flame, same color pants, and black and brown combat boots. A sky blue belt that held several red and white balls came as well with a dark blue headband tie around his right hand, and dark finger-less gloves to complete his look. This boy is none other than Uzumaki Naruto, our beloved gennin and Pokémon trainer.

One month ago in this world, Naruto was thrown into the Pokémon World by the legend Pokémons, and in that world, he met the Pokedex holders, learned many things from them, in both battle and life. Over a year has passed in that world before Naruto had met the divine Pokémon Celebi for a trip back to his home world. It had been a hard decision to make though.

Although Konoha would always be his home, the Pokémon World also became a home to him. Naruto had grown to love that world, especially Kanto; he loved the peaceful feeling in its air, loved the people, who at first had been a little weary of him, but had grown to trust and respect him. More than anything else are the Pokedex Holders and their Pokémon, who had been (and still are) his closest friends. They are the ones who shared his adventure, who taught and cared for him like a brother and sister would, who accepted and forgave him for his many mistakes. Unlike the people of Konoha, they are his family. With them, he felt that he belonged; it was a nice feeling, one that he longed for all his life.

That's why Naruto had been hesitant to come back, he didn't want to be alone again, didn't want to lose the bond he had with everyone. But Red and everyone had shown him later how silly that fear had been. The bond between them was an unbreakable one, even if they were a world apart from each other's, they would always be family and friends. As long as Naruto did not forget this, then there was nothing to worry about. Naruto had accepted their good luck and farewell before allowing Celebi to bring him back to Konoha, where only a month had passed.

That being said, Naruto had spent last night in his old apartment, surrounded by his Pokémon and sobbed his eyes out. Because standing alone in his dark, cold apartment for the first time after living with others for so long, Naruto could not help but break down once more. The feeling of loneliness was so overwhelming and suffocating that if not for his Pokémon, Naruto probably would not be able to get back up again.

Now, the next day, Naruto had calmed himself down and ready for the life in Konoha again. This time, he was a different person, a better person, one who will no longer stand for the ridiculous abuse logic of Konoha, one who will carve his own way through the world whether or not Konoha would like it.

"Watch me; I will make all of you proud. That is the promise of a lifetime, Dattebayo!" said Naruto to the sky as a wide grin broke out on his face, his right hand clutching tightly around a necklace under his jacket. This necklace was made by Blue from the two feathers that Naruto has with him when he first came to their world, and the Earth badge that was given to him by Green after their last battle. Even though Naruto lost that match, Green still acknowledged him as a worthy opponent and finally gave him the badge. It was one of the happiest days in Naruto's life, along with the time he got his Pokedex and the day Iruka gave him his headband.

Speaking of his old academy teacher, the man was walking down the part to the stadium with Ebisu. Naruto grimaced at seeing the second man, their last meeting had not been likeable, and he wonders if Ebisu held any grudges to him. He hoped not, Naruto did not want to have to avoid the man just because of some meaningless grudge from years ago (to him at least). Beside, Iruka is one of his favorite teachers and Naruto had missed him a lot, not meeting said man now because of Ebisu is just stupid. With that thought, Naruto quickly give himself one look over to make sure everything is okay, before jumps down from the tree and runs to Iruka.

"Iruka-sensei! Over there!" shouted Naruto.

Hearing Naruto's shout, the two men stopped their talking and looked up, and at once, both of their jaws dropped.

"N-Naruto? Is that really you?" asked Iruka in disbelief.

"Silly Iruka-sensei, of course it is me. Who else would have this handsome face?" laughed Naruto as he came to a stop in front of both men. He gave Iruka a quick hug. "Did you miss me, Iruka-sensei? You don't know how much I've missed you. And hello to you too, Ebisu-san."

Being spoken directly to by Naruto, slapped Ebisu out of his shock, he quickly said.

"Good to see you too, Naruto-kun. I have to say you certainly look much better than before."

"Yeah, I almost didn't recognize you at first. When did you change? And did you grown taller too?" added Iruka.

"Oh? You realized it too, Iruka-sensei? It took Red-senpai days to realize I've grew, and it was only because Yellow-senpai pointed it out for him… everyone else didn't even pay attention at first. You really are one of my favorite teachers, Iruka-sensei!" said Naruto with a wide grin on his lips. Then, he posed so that he showed his hand muscles when he put the sleeve up. "And of course I've changed. Can't you see all this awesomeness that is the result of very hard training?"

Iruka's and Ebisu's eyes widened a little at seeing his hand; Naruto had certainly developed lean, steady muscles.

"Wow! You mush have worked hard, Naruto," Iruka commented.

"Yup, Iruka-sensei," grinned Naruto as he let his hand down.

"Naruto-kun, can I ask where you've been training for the past month? You know, after the hospital…," asked Ebisu suddenly, attracting the other twos' attention. The smiles disappeared from their faces, for Iruka, it was because the word 'hospital' reminded him of the event between Naruto and Kakashi that Ebisu had told him; to say that he wasn't happy about it was an understatement. As for Naruto, it was because he had been waiting for this question, despite not wanting to answer it. Still, he was not the idiot child years ago any more and he had better control of his emotions now. So he forced the grin back to his face and answered.

"Ahaha, it's okay, Ebisu-san, that event doesn't bother me anymore. I've long forgiven Kakashi-sensei; I don't need him anyways. As for your question, forgive me but I won't answer. I made a promise that I will only tell my most trusted people where I have been the last month, and while I trust Iruka-sensei completely, I can't say the same about you. No offence, but I only just met you for… like… three times?"

"None taken Naruto-kun, I understand. Still, I hope one day I can earn that trust," Ebisu said and he means it, a little disappointed though.

"Thanks, I hope so too," Naruto said back. Then, with nothing more to say, they walked in to the stadium together.

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**Its much shorter than chapter 1, but I hope you like it none the least. Please review.**


	3. Naruto vs Neji

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and Pokemon.**

**Thank all of you who read, review, favorites and alerts both me and this story. Thank to my Beta's hard work, here chapter 3.**

**Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 3: Naruto vs. Neji.**

The only stadium in Konoha was filling with hundreds of people, ranking from the rich lords, to the normal villages of both Konoha and her allies. All of them were here today to witness the competition once every year between the future talented ninjas of the country. Let's not forget all the Genins themselves who have been eager, waiting in the field. Actually, the right words should be 'most of them.'

"Arceus, where is that Teme? Don't tell me he gave up already?" complained Naruto loudly.

"Troublesome, but I don't suppose you'd tell me what 'arceus' means?" asked Shikamaru, who was standing right next to Naruto and has been not so secretly staring at him, just like everyone else.

"Ding Dong~ He gets it! One point to Shikamaru-kun!" giggled Naruto in a singsong voice, something that he learned from Blue.

"I thought so too," grumbled Shikamaru, annoyed at Naruto's teasing, while said boy kept on laughing at the disappointed look on Shikamaru's and everyone else's faces. Ever since Naruto stepped on to the field, he had attracted all the attention to him with his new look and the different air around him. But because he refused to answer any questions, staring and guessing were all everyone could do. Fortunately for Naruto, the staring stopped a few minutes later, as soon as the Hokage began his speech; then the referees spoke up to get to the start of the tournament. Since Naruto's match with Neji was first, everyone quickly cleared out of the field.

"…Looks like you have something to say…" said Neji. Despite his seemly blank face, Naruto could clearly see the arrogant smirk on his lips. Seems like the past month hasn't done him any good… guess it's up to Naruto to give him a lesson of life then. With that thought, Naruto smirked back and gave Neji the two fingers that made Neji's eyes widen a little.

"Now, the first fight, begin!" Genma, the referees, quickly yelled, not wanting to waste any more time.

Immediately after the last word that left Genma's lips, three kunais appeared in each hand of Naruto's and was flying at Neji in a mere second. Said boy just barely jumped out of the way in time. Shocked looks could be seen all around; Neji sneaked a look at where the kunais landed then quickly turned back. The kunais had been way too fast to what he'd imagine Naruto could do, but still not enough.

"Heh, you've improved a little, but that would be more fun to watch you fall apart when you discover reality," said Neji.

"Haha, very funny, that would be the truth…" Naruto let out a fake laugh then shot forward Neji in an attack motion while yelling out, "except for the fact that I did it a long time ago!"

Neji activated his Byakuran and the two exchanged fist fights for a while, while Naruto surprised everyone by being able to keep up with Neji. But that didn't stop the ninja part of the audience from worry and disappointment, because close combat was the Hyuuga's special, and Naruto had just walked in on that trap.

"As I thought, Naruto is slowing down," thought Genma. Being the referee, he had the best view of their fight, and had soon realized that Neji was closing more and more of Naruto's chakra points with each second passed.

"Give up. Can't you see that you are losing?" smirked Neji as he dodged Naruto's high kick.

"I know. That's why I wanted to do this!" yelled Naruto back, and then he quickly took out several explosion seals from his sleeves and activated them.

Neji's eyes opened widely just as the explosion swallowed both of them. Half of the audience jumped out of their seat at seeing it, some yelling for help, while others looked like they wanted to jump in right this moment, but couldn't because of the heat and large gust of wind created by the explosion. It took a few minutes to calm everyone down and they were all seated back to watch the smoke clear out. Genma, who had driven underground the moment he saw the seals, had finally come back up, just in time for the sight to clear out letting people see the large hole that was the result of the explosion.

To everyone's surprise, Neji stood in its center, slightly worse out with a few burns here and there, but otherwise unharmed. Everyone quickly looked around hoping to find a second figure, but minutes passed with none finding anything, and everyone had to acknowledge that Naruto was dead. Hinata was openly weeping now, Sakura was too shocked to move, eyes wide and glued to the scene, while others hid their sadness behind darker eyes and white, tight fists. Iruka felt like fainting and would have done so if not for the black-haired boy sitting near him. The boy quickly whispered something in his ear and he relaxed after that, though he couldn't help but wonder about the boy by his side. Who was he?

"Idiot…" mumbled Neji to himself. While he know the boy wanted to win, but suicide like that was just stupid, especially when it didn't even work. Not wanting to stay in the area any longer, he quickly told the referees to end the match and walked back to the waiting place.

"Uzumaki Naruto is de…" but Genma's words were cut short when a second voice spoke up seemingly from nowhere.

"Alive, of course!"

Gasps was hear from all over the stadium as a rock suddenly broke out to a cloud of smoke and soon in its place stood Naruto, completely fine and grinning widely.

"Naruto! You're alive!" yelled Sakura in joy, several others letting out a sigh in relief. Hinata laughed in her sobbing and Iruka just nodded with acceptance. Then the same boy said, "See? I told you so," to him, both of their eyes following Naruto as he waved to Sakura to calm her down.

"How are you still alive?" asked Neji in disbelief after he came out of his shock.

"I would like to know that too, that was quite an explosion. Did you use a Kawarami or a Shunshin Jutsu?" said Genma.

"Who knows? But it's awesome, isn't it?" Naruto said as he approached Neji.

"So you got lucky then," said Neji back.

"I used my skills to get away, how is that lucky? Did you really think I used those seals in a moment of excitement? No way, I know how to plan, thank you very much. Besides, it's just a test anyway," complained Naruto in annoyance.

"What test? Do you think you are in a place to test me? A loser like you?" Neji asked in anger.

"Oi! I'm not a loser anymore," yelled Naruto, then he continued to say. "And I wasn't talking about you. The test was never about you in the first place; I just wanted to see their reactions at seeing me dead." His finger pointed at the audience, implying who 'they' were.

"Heh, why would you do that? Is this about that Hokage dream you always yelled about? Did you think they'd be so impressed by that explosion that you will be one step closer to become the Hokage? Think again, idiot," said Neji, "Becoming Hokage? It is impossible for you; I can see it with these eyes. Talent is decided at your birth; you could say that everything is decided when a person is born."

"What the hell are you talking about? Don't just automatically decide things like that!" shouted back Naruto.

"Then… Are you saying anyone can become Hokage through hard work? Only a handful of ninja are chosen as the Hokage; look closer at reality. Those that become Hokage are born into that destiny. You don't become it by trying. It is decided by destiny; people must live within their own unchangeable flow… Only one… The only destiny that every person shared… is dead. Having your dreams come true through hard work is an illusion." The more Neji said it, the gloomier it became until a heavy silence embraced the air. Even Naruto is no longer smiling, his face a mask of calmness and seriousness.

"Why?" Naruto finally asked. "Why did you say so? What made you have such an obsession about fate?"

"That's none of your business. Why ask anyway?"

"I asked, because I want to know the reason you insulted Hinata, automatically deciding she's a loser in your last fight. Main family, branch family, I don't understand any of it at all, all I know is that you hold a big grudge against Hinata. But still, Hinata is your family, hurting her like that is unacceptable. I can't forgive you for it."

"So it came back to that failure again?"

"Yes, it is about Hinata, though she is not a failure. But it is also about you too. The way you are going, eventually, will destroy your life. I don't want to see it happen; so I'm trying to help you, you know. Just tell me, you have nothing to lose right?"

"…Fine, I'll tell you. The Hyuuga's destiny of hatred." Neji said, then he took down his headband and began to tell Naruto his father's tale. Naruto listened carefully and asking questions from time to time until the end, where Neji finally said in the same arrogant tone as before. "Your destiny is to lose to me; there's no doubt."

"We won't know until it's over. I don't know how much it hurt when your dad was killed a long time ago, but thinking that destiny is all decided because of that is a huge mistake," said Naruto angrily. In a way, he could understand where Neji's hatred came from, and he could feel himself forming a dislike for the Hyuuga clan just with the boy's words. But still, hatred was never the right answer for anything. It certainly didn't help him when… Naruto felt a pang in his heart at the painful memory. The dead Pokémons, then losing himself to hatred, it was his biggest regret and an event that changed his life forever.

"You're hopeless…" commented Neji, and in one short moment, he was right in front of Naruto, delivering a hard punch by the palm of his hand to the other's chest. Naruto was just able to bring his hands up to block it to avoid injury, but still was pushed back several steps.

"Heh, damn loser. Just give up already," smirked Neji.

"None, there's no way I'll lose to a coward who's always whining about destiny like you," Naruto said and rebalanced himself. He let his guard down for a second because of the memory, but no more.

"An ignorant brat like you shouldn't be lecturing others. People are born burdened with a destiny they cannot oppose." Neji said, remembering his father's words to him a long time ago. "You could never understand what it's like to be burdened with a symbol that you could never rid yourself of."

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"He shouldn't have said it. Naruto-kun understands what a hard life is more than anyone," Ebisu commented to Iruka. The two of them had been sitting in a row near the field so they could hear what was said clearly.

"I know, I wonder what Naruto is thinking now," Iruka answered back, a frown marring his face. His eyes drove to the black-haired boy on the other side of him for a second, but said boy's face was hidden by the rim of his hat, making it harder for him to guess what expressions he was showing. The shadow made him look darker though. It must not have been a pleasant thing to hear.

* * *

As for Naruto, his eyes turned darker even more at the end of Neji's speech. Those words brought back so many bad memories for him, both in his childhood in Konoha and in his journey through Kanto. Finally, Naruto looked up at the blue sky above with its white clouds lazily floating around, his eyes softening at seeing it all and remembered the dexholder's comforting words to him. It was painful, yes, but it was also a lesson he would never forget. His right hand brushed over a Pokeball in his belt. Yes, there was no time to wallow in the past; he had a future to protect and a promise to keep after all. By the time he looked back down, his eyes had lightened up once again.

"You're wrong… I can… maybe even better than you," smiled Naruto at Neji's confusion, he raised his black shirt up letting everyone see his belly. And before Neji's eyes widened, the Kyuubi seal slowly came into existence. Many ninjas were at the end of their seats by this time, all trying to take a glance at the infamous seal on Naruto's stomach. Those who didn't know what it was, looked on with confusion on their faces.

"What… is that?" asked a shocked Neji; never in his life would he think the dead last of the academy would have anything big to hide like this. "How can you have it? I've never seen anything like that in my life. You couldn't have come from a bloodline clan, could you?"

"No, not to my knowledge at least," Naruto shook his head, then put his shirt back down and continued. "As for your first question… what you just saw was a seal that was placed on me upon my birth. A seal that marked me as this village's sacrifice, its outcast and its weapon."

"…You're lying!" yelled Neji. There was no way that loser in front of him would be anything important to Konoha… right?

"Am I?" wondered Naruto, turning around until his eyes met that of the Hokage's. The old man had a sad look on his face but he still tried to smile at Naruto, giving him a quick nod as if saying, "This is your decision, Naruto-kun." Smiling back at the Hokage, Naruto turned around to look at the audience, half of them were the villagers that hated him; none of them could look directly in his eyes for long.

"Am I wrong, people of Konoha?" said Naruto loudly. "Am I not your outcast? Do you not hate me? How many people in here could say that they never hated me because of what that seal held? Except for the younger ones and the outsiders, how many of you here can say that you know me for just me, and not what you think that damn seal in my stomach means? You can't answer, can you?"

"Brat, I think you should stop," Genma spoke up, but was cut off by Naruto.

"No, I will not. I've been waiting for this day a long time ago. It's time the truth comes out, don't you think so?" And that was true to Naruto's word. He had been waiting for this day even since the dexholder found out about the Kyuubi, and not chased him out because of it. He had learned that only when they accepted this secret of his, would they truly be called his friend. If they did not, well, it was a risk he had to take if he even wanted any real friends in this world.

"I agree, even if I don't like him, I want to know what is going on in here. What that seal means," Neji added in calmly, he wanted to know about everything, especially after those words.

"See? Even he agrees with me. So shut up and let me speak." Without waiting for a reply, Naruto continued his story. This was it; there was no turning back now. "All of you know about the Kyuubi that attacked Konoha 12 years ago, right? The only thing most of you don't know is that the Yondaime hadn't been able to kill it like you were told."

"What?! But the history book says…" Sakura's yell was cut short by Naruto.

"The history book is a lie, just like what the adults have been telling you are all lies. The Kyuubi is a mass of chakra; it can't be killed no matter how strong the Yondaime is, he is just a human after all. So, the Hokage had no choice but to seal it, but the Kyuubi is too strong to seal in an item, the only way out is to seal it in a new born baby. Guess who the lucky baby is?"

"…I-It was you, wasn't it? That's why…" said Neji, his voice trembling with shock. He was not the only one though; no one could stop the shocked look from coming to his or her face.

"Yes, I am the Kyuubi Jinchuriki of Konoha, the child that was sacrificed for this village safety, for all of your lives. And yet, I was hated by the very own people that I protected. Almost all the people of Konoha saw me as nothing more than the demon fox that was sealed inside of me, none of them could see that I'm only its prison, even the ninja who was supposed to be able to tell the difference between a sealing scroll and what it's held. To them, I'm the demon in human form, a demon child that killed all of their loved on. Really, sometimes I wonder how they could be so stupid. Do I look like a monster to you? Do you see me going around killing people? How can none of you see it? I AM NOT THE KYUUBI! I AM ITS PRISON! REMEMBER THAT!" Naruto yelled loudly at the last part, hoping that the villagers would finally open their eyes and see what was right in front of them for once.

Silence fell after he finished speaking; everyone was too shocked to say anything.

"That… That's just…" mumbled Sakura to herself; she remembered all the time her parents and the adults told her to stay away from Naruto with so much hate in their voice and now she finally understood why. And Sakura was not happy one bit, in fact, she felt horrible just thinking about it. All this time, Naruto had to live with that hatred, and yet he still could smile like nothing happened. "How can he be so strong?" she wondered. Then the guilt hit her full force in the face. Oh god, she was one of those villagers. She'd hit him and insulted him many times without a second thought. Sure, he had been an annoying idiot at times, but still… Oh god, how could she face him after all this?

Unbeknownst to Sakura, almost everyone had the same thoughts as her. The younger generation wondered how he could be like this with all of that. Just how hard had his life been? How could the adults even think of him as a monster? What else did they do? More and more questions flew around everyone's head, and then the silence finally broke when children started to turn to their parents, asking question, student to teacher, younger to older, everyone seemed to be talking all at once…until the Hokage had to stand up to calm everyone down and told them to discuss this later after the tournament, the crowd finally calmed down and the fight began once again. Naruto looked at all of this with satisfactory before turning back to Neji, asking.

"So, anything to ask?"

"…No, while I can sympathize you, this just shows I am right. In the end, you and Hinata-sama share the same destiny. You are fated to be at the bottom of this place."

"What the fuck are you talking about? How can you turn things from this to that anyway?" Naruto let loose a heavy sigh and shook his head at Neji's foolishness. The boy really gave him no choice. "You're hopeless, Neji. You are not the only one who had a hard life; there are many out there who suffered just as much, if not more. Even Hinata herself, a member of the main family but not acknowledged, trying her best to change herself, thinking that as she was coughing blood while fighting you. Yet, you couldn't see what is right in front of you; those eyes of yours are useless after all. Let's end this fight right now; I don't want to waste any more of my time with you."

"That's my line," Neji said as he bent down in a fighting gesture. "You are in my…"

"Kai!" spoke Naruto calmly, and with that word, the world around them exploded once again. But this time, there were only several small explosions, which created a perfect circle with the two of them at the center, going out.

"Oh no, Kaiten!" Neji had to quickly change his technique to a defensive one to knock away all the debris that flew around him, the same one that he used to save himself before. But as the smoke cleared out and the Kaiten died down, a shadow fell upon him from above and Naruto shouted, "Ra, use Static!"

Neji looked up just in time to see an orange and black creature right in front of his face, the thing that Naruto called Ra let out a strange squeak and Neji felt his body shocked with electricity. His yell was muffled as his body quickly became paralysed. Once sure that Neji couldn't move anymore, Ra let go of his body and let it fall down behind as it ran back to Naruto, who welcomed it with open arms.

"Good job, Ra" commented Naruto as Ra climbed up his shoulder. He then began to pet its head, and grinned at its purring.

"W-What is that thing? And what did it do to Neji?" Genma's yell brought Naruto back to reality.

"Hey, Ra is not a thing!" he quickly yelled, and then more calmly he said, "This is Ra, my Raichu. He is a Pokémon, my… summon, you could say."

"Your summon? But what kind of animal is that? I've never seen anything like this before."

"That's because I am the first one to have this summoning contract, and the Pokémon is a new kind of animal that I only just found out a month before." Naruto lied.

"Do you really think I would believe that? Somehow, out of nowhere, you just found a summoning contract with a new kind of animal that can electric people?"

"Believing it or not is up to you, but the proof is right here, you can see it with your own eyes. Do you think I just brought Ra out of thin air? And stop calling him an animal, Ra is a Pokémon!" complained Naruto.

"Rai chuuu!" The Pokémon in his shoulder let out a huffy squeak that seemed to imply that he agreed with Naruto.

"Alright, alright… So, that is a Pokémon, you're its contract holder, and what did it do to Neji?" Genma asked as he came over to check on Neji; the boy seemed fine except for the fact that he couldn't move, and his ego was damaged.

"Ra is an electric type Pokémon, so obviously, he can use electricity. The move just now is Static, one of his attacks. This technique can paralyse its target, as that is what happened to Neji. Don't worry; he will be back to normal soon," Naruto answered. He walked over to look down at Neji, a calm mask in his face once more.

"You know, Neji? I… I failed the academy graduation exam three times. That was because, unluckily for me, the ninjutsu test on the final exam was always decided as my weakest ninjutsu. The Bunshin No Jutsu was my worst ninjutsu. That's why everyone always called me a loser. Yet, I learned the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu in just three hours, and was able to graduate thanks to it. Destiny can't be changed, blah blah. Stop whining about stupid crap like that. Since… you are not a loser like me."

"Heh," Genma smirked before finally shouted, "Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!"

For a minute, there was only silence, and Naruto sighed in disappointment, he supposed things can't change in just a few minutes. Then Sakura suddenly stood up from her seat and ran to the railing, yelling loudly.

"You did great, Naruto!" Her words might not be worth anything to him, after all the things that she did, but at least for this day, she had done one thing that was right for once.

Hearing her yell, Naruto's head turned up so fast that it looked like his neck would break, and he grinned widely at seeing Sakura waving at him as he waved back with as much gratefulness as he could. He honestly had thought Sakura would be one of the people that would hate him after knowing about the Kyuubi… she had seem to dislike him a lot before. Not for the first time, Naruto was glad that he was wrong again.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan!" yelled Naruto.

Then, Iruka and the Hokage started to clap and soon it became a widely-spread action from all around the stadium. Needless to say, Naruto was happy beyond imagined, because while he had hoped to make people understand and stop seeing him as the fox when he told them his story, that hope wasn't very high. He mostly did that to be able to see whom his real friends in this world were, anyone who hated him after knowing is not worth his time. But having all of them cheer for him as this was happening now was just so overwhelming, Naruto couldn't help but try to wave to them all at once. Rai, by his side, also let out joyful sounds all the way. During this time, Genma turned back to talk to Neji.

"Heh, even a captured bird… If it's clever enough, it will try to open the cage with its beak, never giving up its desire to freely fly in the sky. This time, you have lost."

* * *

**That is all I've writen for this story, while I planed out what will happen next, I don't know how to write it yet. So, this story will not be update anytime soon in the next month or so, mostly because I will be too busy with end-term exams to write anything.**

**This is my first time writen a full fight, so if there is any mistake, forgive me. Most of it came from the manga, because I want to keep this as near canon as I can while adding the pokemon in. **

**There will be more of the Kyubi issue after the Chunin Exam is over. I'm not saying that the Kyubi is easy to accept, but we are in the middle of a fight, people just don't stop fighting to talk about a demon, no matter how big it is, when it has nothing to do with the fight what so ever. I dislike the manga more and more with its "let stop fighting and talk about our past" issue. So yeah, any issues you saw in this chapter or the last two will be addressed after the Exam is over, not sooner and not later.**

**I will be posting a new crossover story between Naruto and Harry Potter in next week or so, since I've writen 6 chapter or it and just writing for my Beta to edit it all. So, if any or you interesting, please keep a look out for it. Its name probably will be "Harry Potter and the Demon King" if I can't think of anything better to name it with. Mostly about "Twin Boy-Who-Live", "Adopted Harry", and "Founders" issues.**

**That is all. See you whenever I can get the nxet chapter up.**


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